{"id":5787,"date":"2011-05-27T12:30:25","date_gmt":"2011-05-27T19:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/ClaireWolfe\/?p=5787"},"modified":"2011-05-27T12:30:25","modified_gmt":"2011-05-27T19:30:25","slug":"dirt-cheap-survival-retreat-a-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/27\/dirt-cheap-survival-retreat-a-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Dirt-Cheap Survival Retreat (a book review)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dirt-Cheap Survival Retreat: One Man’s Solution<\/i><\/b>
\nBy M.D. Creekmore
\nAvailable from Paladin Press<\/a>
\nAvailable from Amazon.com<\/a>
\n$12.00, 79 pages, 2011<\/p>\n

While many would-be survivalists were waiting to win the lottery or planning to discreetly bump off a rich uncle to build their Ultimate Survival Retreat in Idaho (complete with underground bunkers, escape tunnels, a decade’s supply of dried lentils, and customized Super Whizz-Whacker 3000 rifles at every lead-shuttered portal) … a handful of authors have been telling us how to do it another way: cheap.<\/p>\n

First came Brian Kelling with his Travel-Trailer Homesteading Under $5,000<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

Then along came Phil Garlington with his witty, irreverent, charming, and surprisingly practical Rancho Costa Nada: The Dirt Cheap Desert Homestead<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

This year they’re joined by one of the blogosphere’s most noted survival writers M.D. Creekmore of TheSurvivalistBlog.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kelling and Creekmore both talk about travel-trailer living. Garlington leans more toward primitive structures. All three offer voice-of-experience advice suitable for both low-budget emergency retreats and year-round living. All three bring their own varieties of sage advice: Kelling gives the Cadillac plan (albeit a used Cadillac that’s probably been up on blocks for years), with details on how to create an in-ground homemade septic system and convert a travel trailer to wood heat. Garlington’s lifestyle and advice is for the real don’t-give-a-damn desert rat who loves to scrounge and improvise and doesn’t pay much heed to civilized amenities. <\/p>\n

Kelling and Garlington’s books were published by the late, great Loompanics Unlimited and to the best of my knowledge are both out of print (though they’re available via the Amazon links above). So Creekmore is your #1 contemporary option for this sort of book.<\/p>\n

And that’s good because his advice comes from a nice, comfortable spot in between his predecessors.<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

When Creekmore bought a couple acres of junk land and a travel trailer, he never intended to live there full time. He intended the place to be only a campsite and weekend getaway. But a layoff, a divorce, and increasing financial desperation drove him to the country. So he set about adapting his place as a permanent retreat.<\/p>\n

He starts off by making one hugely important point about why a cheap retreat might be the way to go: If you don’t own your place outright, then you risk having a bank take it away from you just when you need it most. (Score one for M.D. Creekmore.)<\/p>\n

He then goes on to give brief how-tos on:<\/p>\n